


Birthday Boy

by HylianHarmony



Series: Linked Universe Fics [5]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Flashbacks, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Wind angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22779211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HylianHarmony/pseuds/HylianHarmony
Summary: Wind's fourteenth birthday is here! Naturally, the heroes decide to throw him a surprise party. There's just one small problem. Wind hates his birthday.-Based off of Jojo56830's Linked Universe AU-
Series: Linked Universe Fics [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1344637
Comments: 5
Kudos: 193





	Birthday Boy

Two figures appeared in the distance, and a lone wolf sniffed the air from its perch atop a cliff. Salt stung his nose first and foremost. Then came the scent of wind and waves and wildlife. There was no doubt about it. It was them.

Tail wagging slightly, the wolf hopped down the cliff step by craggy step. Only when he reached the dirt road did Twilight transform back into a human. Climbing trees, he could handle. Mountains, not so much. His wolf form was much better suited for such rough terrain.

Fortunately, he could run pretty fast in both forms so it didn’t take long for him to reach Lurelin Village and round the corner to announce Wind’s and Wild’s arrival to everyone else.

“They’re coming.”

“Already?” ‘Rule frowned. “We’re not finished setting up.”

“Yeah, we only have five crowns done,” Red lamented, holding up the flower crown he was working on.

“We have Wind’s done. That’s really the only one that matters,” Legend said without looking up from the hibiscus flowers he was twisting together.

“But it’s a _party_. Everyone needs one,” Red insisted.

“Everyone will get one. You three can finish making them later,” Time interjected before Legend could retort with something unkind. “Twilight, how close are they?”

“Ten minutes? Maybe less if Wind catches the scent of the sea.” He wrinkled his sensitive nose. It still stung with salt. “Which he probably will.”

“Alright then. Everyone, hide.”

The heroes scrambled to do just that. Legend, Red, and Hyrule tossed finished and half-finished flower crowns alike on the table Sky and Time had been allowed to borrow from the inn. Then Red and ‘Rule dove underneath the table, allowing Sky’s sailcloth, which the Chosen Hero had donated as a temporary table cloth, to conceal them. Time, Twilight, Sky, and Warrior elected to hug the natural wall of rock to their right while Legend crouched behind a nearby palm tree.

“I’ve never done this before,” Sky whispered excitedly.

“Nor have I,” Time added.

“There’s not much to it,” Twilight reassured them with a smile. “Just jump out and yell surprise when they round the corner.”

“It’s like hide and seek, except he doesn’t know he’s seeking us,” Red chimed in helpfully.

“Exactly,” Twilight agreed.

“You sure we’re not going to scare him to death?” Warrior asked. “After all, as far as he knows, we’re still at Lakeside Stable.”

Legend rolled his eyes. “He’ll be fine. Who doesn’t love surprise parties?”

This was true. There had been many surprise parties in Ordon Village, mostly for the little kids but a few for the adults, too, over the years. Not one had been met with ill feelings.

“Let us know when he gets here. Kind of hard to see down here,” Hyrule piped up.

“You’ll know when we scream,” Legend assured him.

“Lift the bottom of the sailcloth a little so you can see,” Sky suggested.

“And be careful when you do come out,” Twilight said as ‘Rule and Red took Sky’s advice, their faces peeking out. “Don’t hit your heads.”

“We won’t,” Red chirped.

The Links quieted, then, letting the air fill with their soft breathing and the shushing of the waves nearby as if they, too, knew of the surprise and wanted to ensure it went well. A seagull cried overhead.

Legend shifted, grumbling irritably about his legs cramping.

“No one told you to hide there.” Warrior scoffed.

“Well, you armored idiots are taking up all the room over there!”

“You wear armor too, stupid.”

“Not as much as-”

“Guys, _shh_!” Twilight snapped. “They’re close.” He had been keeping his ears perked for any tell-tale signs of the birthday boy’s presence, and the methodical footsteps coupled with the laugh from Wild told Twilight that they were entering the village.

“Come on. It’s just ahead.” Wild’s voice floated over to them, convincing everyone to become as still as statues.

“What is? The ocean?” Wind wondered, sounding perplexed.

“Yes, but there’s something else. Something cool.”

“The ocean’s cool.”

“This is even cooler.”

Twilight took to counting their footfalls. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Everyone sucked in a collective breath.

Six.

Held it.

Seven.

They were close.

Eight.

Almost there.

Nine.

Wind rounded the corner, Wild just behind him as if to usher him forward.

“SURPRISE!” They exclaimed, leaping out of crouched positions and up from underneath tables and hopping away from natural rock walls with smiles on their faces and expectation in their eyes as they gazed at Wind.

“Happy Birthday!” Wild added, clapping a hand on Wind’s shoulder and coming around to stand with the rest of them so he was also facing the birthday boy.

“It’s a surprise party!” Red cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. “Are you surprised?”

The expression on Wind’s face said yes. His eyes were impossibly wide with shock, taking in the eight eager heroes, the seashell and the paper decorations hanging from palm trees, and the table laden with tropical flower crowns and hastily wrapped gifts.

Twilight expected the boy to smile and rush forward to join them. Maybe even jump up and down like Red. Only Wind didn’t do any of that. As the seconds ticked by, the Hero of Winds remained frozen.

“I think we broke him,” Warrior observed finally with a small laugh that quickly spread to the rest of the group.

“What? Did you forget?” Legend smirked. “Wind, it’s your birthday!”

That seemed to jolt Wind out of his stupor. It started with a scrunch of his nose, then a tiny sniff before his whole face crumpled, tears rushing to his eyes.

“Don’t be dramatic now,” Legend teased him playfully. “That’s Warrior’s department.”

“Excuse you! I am not dramatic.”

“Oh, hopelessly theatric, I’m sorry,” Legend corrected himself, directing a small, mock bow towards Warrior.

“Why you-!”

Twilight laughed, closing the distance between him and Wind. “Ignore them.” He pulled the younger boy into a hug. “Happy tears are allowed… Those are happy tears, right?”

Wind returned the hug but didn’t respond otherwise.

“Wind?” His smile gradually fell, and he pulled away a little, trying to get Wind to look at him. He wouldn’t. He simply clung tighter to Twilight’s middle.

At a loss, Twilight rubbed Wind’s back and looked up, turning slightly to see that Time and Sky had noticed something was wrong. Oblivious, Red grabbed the elaborate flower crown they’d made Wind as a party hat and was about to trot over. Thankfully, Sky stopped him.

Time briskly made his way over, plowing past the others whose attention was still held captive by Legend’s and Warrior’s comical back and forth. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know. He won’t answer me.”

Time placed a hand on Wind’s head, and he flinched, pressing closer to Twilight. The Hero of Time retracted his hand. “It’s just me. You need to tell us what’s wrong. We can’t help unless we know.”

Wind remained silent.

“Is it the surprise? Did you not like it?” Twilight guessed. “It’s okay if you didn’t. You won’t hurt our feelings.”

The head shake was subtle, but Twilight caught it nonetheless. “No? No…what? No, you didn’t like the surprise?”

A minuscule nod.

“Okay. That’s okay,” Twilight reassured him tightening his hold on the trembling boy and wracking his brain to figure out what could have possibly caused Wind to not like the surprise party. Was it the location? Did it remind him too much of home? As he cast his gaze around the beach, Twilight became more and more certain that was it. They’d only been to Outset Island once but once was enough to know that Lurelin Village was achingly similar. It even had a tall, wooden watch tower.

And yet Wind’s sister and grandmother weren’t here. It was unlikely Wind had ever spent a birthday away from home. Putting him in an area that looked like home but wasn’t was just plain cruel. He saw that now. It wasn’t comforting. It was torture.

“I’m sorry, Wind. This was my idea. I didn’t think.”

A mumble against his chest made him pause. “What was that?” He was usually decent at deciphering mumbles and sobs on account of babysitting the village kids so much, but he wasn’t perfect.

“H-how…how did you know it...it was my birthday?” Wind gasped out, peering up at Twilight with red-rimmed eyes.

“Your grandmother told us when we were at Outset last,” he answered gently.

Not gently enough, it seemed, for Wind ducked his head, going mute once more.

A minute passed filled with nothing but Wind’s shaky breaths as he tried to regain control of himself. The relative silence brought Twilight’s attention to the fact that the other heroes had caught on to the solemn air and quieted.

“Why’s he upset?” ‘Rule ventured when Twilight’s concerned gaze met his.

“He’s homesick.”

“’m not.” Wind pulled away, swiping at his eyes with his sleeve.

Twilight furrowed his brow, confused. “You’re not homesick?” What other explanation could there be?

“Why are you upset then?” Time asked.

“I…I don’t like my birthday,” Wind mumbled, keeping his tear-streaked face directed at the sandy ground.

“Your grandmother never mentioned anything of the sort,” Time said, equally as puzzled as the rest of them.

“That’s because she doesn’t know.”

“Then you used to like your birthday,” Legend concluded, arms crossed critically over his chest. “What changed?”

“My sister got kidnapped…”

“What does that have to do with—”

“On my birthday.”

The words took a moment to register, but once they did they sunk like a stone, hard and heavy, into Twilight’s stomach. Wind’s sister had been kidnapped on his birthday. That sucked no matter how one looked at it, but there was more to it than that. Wind had told them it was his sister’s kidnapping that had spurred him on his adventures. His journey had started much as Twilight’s had, as a rescue mission, but it’d grown so much bigger than that. One unfortunate event had spiraled out of control, outfitting a child with a green tunic, ancient sword, and the burdening title of hero and all the horrors that came with it. On his birthday, no less.

Legend was the first to recover. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

Wind’s gaze snapped up and despite his misty eyes and wet cheeks, he still managed a fearsome glare. “Why don’t you ever tell us about your adventures?”

Legend tsked, breaking eye contact. “That’s not the same thing.”

“It is! You shouldn’t even know it’s my birthday anyway so can we _please_ just pretend it’s not?” He cast a desperate look at the entire group as he said this, and Twilight couldn’t help the sympathetic expression that settled onto his face. Wind was still so young. He had many birthdays to celebrate yet. Ignoring it didn’t seem right, especially since it was likely he hadn’t been able to celebrate his twelfth.

“You don’t want to celebrate at all?” Red wondered, crestfallen.

Wind shook his head.

“Why not?”

The Hero of Winds wrapped his arms around himself, shrinking back as if he could make himself smaller. “Because something bad will happen if we do.”

“Nothing bad will happen,” Twilight attempted to reassure his little brother.

“It will,” Wind insisted.

“You weren’t aware of it but part one of your surprises today was exploring and taking pictures with me,” Wild spoke up, striding over and swiping the Pictobox Wind had dropped. He pressed it back into Wind’s hands. “That was fun, wasn’t it? And nothing bad happened.”

“That day started off nice too,” Wind retorted, his voice beginning to hitch as he cradled the Pictobox to his chest. “It doesn’t mean anything.” 

“What about your last birthday? Nothing bad happened then, did it?” Sky asked.

“No, but that’s because we didn’t celebrate it.”

“I find it hard to believe your grandma and sister didn’t do anything for you,” Warrior said.

“I wasn’t home. I was with my pirate friends.” Twilight didn’t think they were such great friends if they neglected to even take Wind home for his birthday.

“Look, Wind. I get it. What happened on your twelfth birthday was awful and I’d probably be wary of it too after that, but you can’t let one bad experience ruin all the rest. Your birthday is going to come around each year whether you like it or not.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to celebrate it,” Wind whispered, clutching his Pictobox tighter.

“No but…kid, you can change it. You don’t like your birthday now because of that one bad memory, right?” Twilight hardly waited for Wind’s nod before continuing. “So why not make new memories to replace the bad one? If you ask me, now’s as good a time as any to start. You have eight big brothers right here, and none of us are going to let anything bad happen to you.”

“I’m not worried about me,” Wind said, raising his head to meet Twilight’s eyes. “I’m worried about all of you.”

Right. That made sense. It was his sister that was taken two years ago today. If they were equivalent to family then of course Wind’s biggest worry would be something happening to them.

“You don’t have to worry, Wind. We’re all more than capable of taking care of ourselves,” Time assured their youngest with a warm smile.

“Nothing’s killed us yet,” Legend piped up gruffly. “I sincerely doubt that any bad luck you bring on your birthday is going to do it.”

“Not that you bring bad luck,” Sky added hastily, sparing an uneasy glance at their most insensitive party member.

“So? What do you say?” Twilight wondered, catching Wind’s attention. He held out his hand. An invitation. “We don’t have to call it a birthday party if you don’t want to, but we’re definitely taking a day off.”

His heart beat hard against his chest as Wind reached out a hand to meet his. Before he made contact, Wind froze. He tilted his head to the side, peeking up at Twilight through his bangs. “It’s not a birthday party?”

“It’s not a birthday party,” he confirmed. “It’s just a day like any other. Except we’re relaxing for once.”

The ghost of a smile flickered onto Wind’s face, and he completed the motion. Twilight gripped Wind’s small, calloused hand in his and tried not to think about why those callouses were there as he pulled him into his side for a quick hug before turning and releasing him towards the others. 

Red was quick to wrap Wind up in an embrace, as was Sky.

“Well,” Time clapped Twilight on the shoulder, startling him. “What do you say? Should we start fishing for dinner?”

Twilight looked back at Wind. Red was attempting to give him the special flower crown they’d made. By the looks of it, he was politely refusing. “Yeah…”

“He’ll be alright. He’s one of us.”

“That’s why I’m worried.” With difficulty, Twilight tore his gaze away from the Hero of Winds and focused on the man beside him. “We all have the nasty habit of bottling things up. We didn’t know about _this._ Heck, his grandmother didn’t even know. What else do we not know about?” Wind was one of the most talkative of them all. He didn’t seem shy about sharing his adventures. Not about the sea monsters he’d faced, anyway. And yet, they’d never learned this crucial detail until now.

Time turned his own gaze on their resident sailor. “Hundreds of things, I’d wager.”

“Thanks for making me feel better,” he muttered sarcastically.

“I’m just stating facts. We can’t protect him from everything, but we can be here for him when he does need us. He’ll let us know when that is.”

Twilight wasn’t so sure about that. The boy had been fully prepared to spend the anniversary of the death of his childhood walking on eggshells without telling any of them. That alone pointed to the fact that Wind wasn’t going to speak up when he needed support.

Nonetheless, as he watched Hyrule and Wild drag Wind down the beach to engage in some activity they had planned, Twilight felt himself relaxing, if only a little. Wind was the most expressive of them all. One didn’t have to pay close attention in order to know when he was down. Still, as he and Time took up their fishing rods and made their way to the docks, Twilight resolved to keep an eye out. Just in case.

* * *

Hyrule had spent roughly an hour setting up the raft so it was more than a little disheartening that Wind refused to step foot on it. Wind often spoke of sailing so planning a raft ride only seemed logical. Now, ‘Rule was having second thoughts.

Wild didn’t share his reservations, however. Or if he did, he did a much better job of concealing them. “I’ve sailed on rafts like this a bunch of times. It’s more than safe.”

“If it rains it won’t be safe,” Wind said fidgeting with his butterfly necklace and staring unseeingly at the log raft they were trying to coax him onto.

“It won’t. Look, there’s not a cloud in the sky.” Indeed, as they all turned their attention to the expanse of bright blue above, they could find no dark puffs of cloud or even wisps of white.

“The weather can change fast on the sea,” Wind objected. “It’s unpredictable.”

“Maybe for most, but not for me because I have this!” Wild whipped out his slate with a flourish and tapped on its surface for a moment before turning it around so Wind could see. Hyrule edged closer for a better view.

“It predicts the weather wherever I am. Right here, see?” Wild tapped the bottom left corner of the screen where tiny circles with lines shooting out from their centers blazed bright and teal blue. “The suns mean it’s going to be sunny. It goes by hour and if I keep scrolling…” Wild paused to do so, sliding the sun symbols aside only for them to be replaced with more and more of the same icons. “It doesn’t change. It’s going to be clear all day and night. No rain.”

Wind considered this for a few moments before drawing a deep breath in and releasing it. “I guess it’s okay then. Just…can we not go that far?”

The caution was uncharacteristic of Wind, but as much as Hyrule wanted to snap him out of it and encourage him to take the raft out as far as they could go like he’d imagined when first planning the expedition, he refrained. The surprise party had been a surprise in all the wrong ways. He wanted to make up for it however he could. If sailing just a little way off shore contented Wind then he’d be content with it as well. “Of course. You can set the limits.”

A smile lit up Wind’s face and both heroes were glad to see it.

“Let’s get this thing in the water,” Wild said, strapping his slate back on his hip and turning to push the raft. Hyrule and Wind hurried to help him and in no time at all they were splashing knee deep in the sparkling surf, raft bobbing in the water.

Scrambling onto it took some effort, but the three of them managed it eventually. Hyrule adjusted the sail—a large square of cloth strung to a cross of sturdy branches—while Wild and Wind pulled out their Deku Leaves.

“I’ve only ever done this with one Deku Leaf before,” Wild commented excitedly as Hyrule stepped aside and sat down so he wouldn’t be blown away.

“Do you think this will capsize us?” Wind worried, lowering his leaf uncertainly.

“Not a chance!” Wild reassured him. “But you _are_ the Waker of Winds. I expect to fly.”

Wind laughed, and it was music to Hyrule’s ears. “Is that possible?”

“Maybe. If we attach octoballoons to the raft then definitely.”

“I would love to fly,” ‘Rule added wistfully, hoping Wind took the hint.

He did. “Let’s-!” His shining green eyes dulled the slightest, and when Wind spoke next it was without the previous excitement. “Let’s…try it another time.”

“Sure. Get ready. On three.” Wild raised his Deku Leaf and Wind mirrored him, smile returning.

“One,” Wild counted.

“Two,” Wind continued.

“Three!” The two heroes brought down their leaves in quick succession and the resulting gust gave life to their little watercraft. It didn’t fly exactly, but it did skim the waves, sending them practically soaring across the ocean.

Wild let out a whoop of elation and ‘Rule and Wind echoed him with thrilled cries of their own. The wind lashed against their faces and sea spray cloaked them from head to toe, but it was all part of the experience and later they would attest that it wouldn’t have been any fun without it.

Their burst of speed only took them so far and all too soon they began to slow.

“Again!” Wild cried, hardly waiting for Wind to raise his own leaf before waving the large palm frond in his hands at the sail. The Hero of Winds quickly followed suit, giving them the extra burst of speed they needed to make their stomachs flip pleasantly as the raft crested a large wave and crashed down on the other side.

Eventually, Wind and Wild fell into a rhythm, trading off the responsibility of blowing wind into their sail so that the raft never had the chance to slow down, much less come to a stand-still.

‘Rule took it upon himself to twist the mast this way and that, directing every thrilling turn. Mindful of Wind’s wishes, he ensured land was always in sight. This led to them shredding the coast—if water could be shredded, that is—and generally scaring all the fish away with their exclamations of joy and all-around rowdiness.

The Hero of Hyrule hoped that any fishermen in the vicinity would forgive them.

As they zig-zagged through the water at speeds that Hyrule had never dreamed of reaching on a raft, Wind scream-laughed so much that he nearly missed his turn to wave his Deku Leaf.

Noticing this, Wild picked up Wind’s slack as best he could and Hyrule nearly capsized them a couple times with how much he directed the raft to sway. The ride made them all seasick but it was a good kind of seasick and not one of them complained.

Hyrule didn’t have a habit of keeping tabs on time. He was accustomed to letting his adventures take as long as they liked, and this one was no different. As a result, he had no estimate of how long they’d managed to make Wind happy before things went south. (He didn’t understand that expression. In his experience, going south wasn’t any different from going in any other direction. Except, of course, that one ended up in different places, but then again, nowhere in his Hyrule was much friendlier than the other so they weren’t so different after all.) Nonetheless he liked to think it had taken quite a while before Wind stopped rocketing air at the sail with his leaf.

“My arms are getting tired,” Wild panted, glancing over at the small sailor with a tired but satisfied smile. “Do some work, will you?”

Hyrule laughed, eyes flicking to Wind only to find the boy frozen, staring back the way they’d come. His Deku Leaf dangled, forgotten, from limp fingers.

The joke on the tip of his tongue turned to ash. “Wind?”

No response.

“What are you looking at?” Wild wondered, abandoning his post and peering over Wind’s shoulder to see what he was seeing. ‘Rule did likewise.

Lurelin Village was in sight, as well as the clear blue sea in between. If he squinted, he could see figures on the beach. That wasn’t so strange. The village was filled with fishermen and other villagers besides their motley crew of nine. People weren’t a rare sight.

Monsters, on the other hand, were, and as soon as the possibility crossed his mind, Hyrule searched harder, looking high and low for a threat. He didn’t find one.

Wild was equally perplexed and when they turned to Wind for answers, they received them. Just not the way they were expecting.

Immediately after setting eyes upon Wind, Hyrule knew something wasn’t right. He was frozen, breath coming in short gasps and face scrunched up in sorrow.

Gingerly, so as not to startle the boy, he placed a hand on Wind’s shoulder. Tremors wracked his body. “Wind? What’s the matter?”

Wind gave no indication of having felt or heard Hyrule.

“We have to go back,” Wild said, locking eyes with ‘Rule. He nodded in agreement, about to turn away and help turn them around, when Wind shocked to life.

“No!” He whipped around, gripping Hyrule’s shoulders tightly. ‘Rule’s startled gaze met Wind’s frantic one. “Don’t turn back. Please! I-I promise I’ll do whatever you say. I’ll do it and…and I won’t cry!”

“I-it’s okay if you need to cry,” ‘Rule said uncertainly, reaching up to hold Wind’s wrists. He had no idea what was happening.

A vehement head shake answered him. “That’s not what you said earlier. You said-” Wind gasped, gaze transfixed on something behind him, and Hyrule glanced over his shoulder to see Wild preparing to return their raft to shore.

Wind shook him, startling Hyrule into facing him once more. “I’m not crying! See? I’m not!” Tears streamed down the boy’s face like twin rivers. Something told Hyrule it would be a mistake to point them out, so he didn’t. Unfortunately, his silence did nothing to appease Wind. “You can’t turn the ship around yet. My sister’s in trouble. I need to save her!”

That’s when it clicked. Wind was having a flashback.

“Wind, your sister’s safe. She’s at home.”

“No! That bird took her; it took her and she’s going to die if I don’t go save her!”

“No one’s dying.” Hyrule struggled to keep his voice steady. He wasn’t usually the one to help his friends with flashbacks. Usually Sky, Twilight, or Warrior covered it. But they weren’t here. It was only Hyrule and Wild, and Wild was busy getting them back to solid ground. That meant comforting Wind was his responsibility. At least until they reached shore.

To his dismay, Hyrule couldn’t find the right words to calm his friend down. Wind’s crying had evolved into sobbing which caused him to panic even more because he had convinced himself that his tears were the reason why they were turning around. In a way, they were, but Hyrule couldn’t admit that.

It seemed like he spent an eternity mumbling empty reassurances before the raft struck sand and their companions hurried over to help.

“What happened?” Warrior demanded, stepping forward and reaching out to relieve Hyrule of the hysterical child in his arms.

“Flashback,” Wild answered for him since ‘Rule was currently struggling to get Wind to release him so Warrior could take his place. Wind, however, wouldn’t let go.

He wouldn’t move either. Contrary to what one may believe, Wind was strong, especially when he had his power bracelets on like he did now. Therefore, since Wind refused to move, Hyrule was stuck in one place as well.

“What do I do?” he asked, shooting a desperate look at the more experienced heroes in his company.

“Remind him where he is, and let him know that he’s safe,” Sky instructed.

“And that whatever he thinks is happening isn’t happening anymore,” Warrior added.

“But that’s what I have been doing!” ‘Rule cried, thoroughly frazzled. He was no good at this. “It’s not working.”

“Stay calm. It’ll work eventually,” Warrior said stiffly.

‘Rule simply gaped at him. Eventually? How long was eventually?! He swallowed the lump in his throat and returned his attention to the sobbing boy before him. “No” had become his mantra.

“Nonononononono.”

It wasn’t a word anymore. It was the sound of a broken child and he was expected to not break at the sight of it. That was a job for the captain of the Hyrulean Guard or the Hero of Legend, not him. Nonetheless, he had to try.

“You’re safe,” he repeated weakly. “Aryll’s safe too. She’s at Outset.”

Just as before, his words meant nothing. Suddenly, Hyrule didn’t care what Warrior said. He was a military captain. He was trained to be strong and unwavering in any situation and maybe that worked for him but it didn’t work for Hyrule. He wasn’t that strong. He couldn’t keep saying the same words over and over again until Wind’s mind pieced itself back together, so he changed tactics.

“I’ll take you to your sister.” The sentence momentarily halted the never-ending stream of no’s. Not wanting to waste his opportunity, Hyrule pressed on. “I’ll take you to her, but you have to calm down first.”

His words weren’t laced with magic, but they might as well been considering the effect they had on Wind. The mantra ceased, and Wind held his breath to stop the sobs from escaping his mouth. Of course, he was deprived of air already so it didn’t work, but Wind still made the effort. Most importantly, he released Hyrule.

Cowardice pulling at his heart, ‘Rule stumbled back from the boy who was desperately dashing tears from his eyes and struggling to take a breath that didn’t sputter out before he’d fully drawn it in.

“Did you not listen to anything I just said?” Warrior shouted, seething. Hyrule shrunk back from his anger. “That’s not how you handle it!”

“It worked better than your plan,” Legend interjected.

“He’s practically hyperventilating!” Warrior shot back, throwing an arm out to indicate Wind who was, in fact, hyperventilating. Hyrule’s heart dropped to his toes. He’d done that.

“Then go fix it!” Legend shouted back. “You can do that now because ‘Rule made an opening for you. You should be thanking him, not yelling at him!”

Warrior didn’t retort. He simply strode forward and draped the end of his scarf over Wind’s shaking shoulders.

Leaving the captain to it, Hyrule stepped off the raft and straight into a tight embrace from Sky. “It’s okay. You handled it fine.”

“I messed it up.” His eyes burned.

“You didn’t.”

“Yeah, ‘Rule look.” At Legend’s prompting, Hyrule did so. The captain had managed to get Wind to sit with him on the beach, and though tears still dripped down his face and tremors wracked his body like a leaf in a windstorm, he was breathing a little easier. That was an improvement. It was small. But it was an improvement.

“For the record, I would have done the same thing,” Legend said off-handedly as the three of them watched Warrior hold Wind close and softly repeat the words Hyrule hadn’t been able to.

“Then it was the wrong thing.” Hyrule didn’t even realize he’d spoken until Legend jabbed him in the side, a scowl on his face.

“Hey, give me some credit! I’m not that bad.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

Legend harrumphed but didn’t respond otherwise.

None of them realized that Wild had run off until he returned with Twilight, Time, and Four on his heels.

“War has it covered,” Legend said, stepping forward to block the others from barreling past him as they seemed intent on doing.

“Didn’t seem like that by the way Wild was talking,” Twilight countered, glancing at the champion.

“They were all yelling when I left,” Wild spoke up in his defense.

“You left too soon,” Legend informed him.

“What spurred all this?” Time asked, changing the subject before Legend and Wild could get into an argument.

“We don’t know,” Hyrule answered. “He was fine a few minutes ago.”

“Are you okay?” Red asked.

“O-of course,” he stammered. “Why?”

“You look upset,” Red offered by way of explanation. The fact that Sky still had an arm around him probably didn’t help.

‘Rule separated himself completely from the Skyloftian. “I’m fine. Just…worried about Wind.”

The boy had ceased begging to not be left behind and started begging to stay. Whether that was an improvement or not, Hyrule couldn’t say. He was just relieved that he didn’t have to deal with it directly. The thought made him wince. It was far from heroic.

“No more,” Time decided, giving Hyrule an excuse to tear his eyes away from Wind. “After he comes out of it, we’re letting him decide what he wants to do.”

“He wanted to go sailing with us,” Wild objected.

“Not at first,” Hyrule pointed out. They’d had to convince Wind to come with them.

“No,” Wild agreed. “But he said yes eventually.”

“Saying yes eventually isn’t good enough,” Time said. “From now on, he either says yes first or you don’t do it. I know we all had things planned for today but plans change. They _have_ to change.”

Hyrule nodded seriously along with everyone else, wishing he’d known this before. Then maybe he could have prevented what Wind was going through now. Unfortunately, the past was unchangeable. They could only move forward. So they did.

* * *

“Are you back with us, sailor?”

Wind answered with a minuscule nod.

“Can you look at me?” Warrior requested. So far, Wind had said yes twice and still remained aloof.

This time, however, Wind’s gaze managed to meet Warrior’s. “Hey, you alright now?”

Wind sucked in a breath, wiping at his eye with the heel of his hand and nodding. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s fine,” Warrior rubbed his back. “Not your fault.”

“Your scarf…” Wind worried, picking at the blue fabric draped around him. Much of it was soaked with tears and snot.

Warrior grimaced but did his best to put a reassuring smile on his face for Wind’s sake. “I’ll clean it later. I’m more worried about you. Are you okay?”

Wind shrugged, electing to play absently with Warrior’s scarf to keep his hands busy. The trembling was nearly nonexistent. Nearly.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

The head shake was so vehement Warrior feared the little hero would hurt himself. “That’s fine. You don’t have to.” He hugged him close, stroking his hair. “You don’t have to.”

They remained that way until Sky approached a few minutes later. “Mind if I take over?”

Warrior didn’t resist, encouraging Wind to get up with a final squeeze. His legs were starting to cramp.

“Do you want your scarf back?” Wind wondered.

Warrior waved him off as he got to his feet, joints popping. “Nah, keep it for now.”

Wind almost looked like he wanted to argue, but Sky wrapped an arm around him and all fight drained from his eyes. “I’m so sorry you’re having a rough time.”

“You didn’t do it,” Wind mumbled.

Oh, but he did. Sky tightened his grip on the child in his arms. The blame game was a futile one, he knew. Yet Sky couldn’t keep it under lock and key at all times. Whenever one of the others struggled, he felt it like bolts of lightning surging through him. They taunted him, crooning “if only you could be like us. Quick. Precise. Deadly.” But of course he wasn’t. He was slow and thus he was late to save Zelda and too late to prevent Demise from uttering the curse that doomed those that came after him to a never ending cycle of strife.

“Still…I’m sorry.”

Wind shrugged off the apology, but Sky knew that was only because the sailor didn’t know the truth. “Why don’t we do something? Get your mind off of it.” Distractions usually worked for him. He didn’t see why they wouldn’t work for Wind.

“What would we do?” The question was uttered with a note of fear, and Sky hurried to alleviate it.

“Whatever you want.”

Wind frowned deeply. “I don’t know what I want to do.”

“Do you want to explore Lurelin?” Sky suggested, wracking his brain for options.

“No.”

“Go fishing with Time and Twi?”

“Mmm…no.”

“Build a sandcastle?”

“No.”

“Collect seashells?”

“No.”

“I can teach you how to carve.”

“Not right now.”

“Take a nap? I kind of want to take a nap. I’ll nap with you.”

Wind smiled warily. “No, thanks.”

“Okay…how about playing a prank on someone?”

The boy’s face lit up with mischief at the notion, and he leaned closer to Sky conspiringly. “Who?”

Sky grinned. “I don’t know.”

The Hero of Winds turned to survey the group of heroes, and Sky did likewise. Twilight and Time were out of sight, having gone back to their fishing lines. The rest were in the process of cleaning up the surprise party. Aside from Wild, that is. He was setting up his cooking space to prepare lunch.

Which made him the perfect candidate for the prank, apparently.

“Let’s get Wild,” Wind whispered, turning back to him with something close to excitement gleaming in his eyes. Sky didn’t have much experience with pranks, having been on the receiving end much of his life. The majority of those pranks had been more akin to bullying than light-hearted fun between friends. This prank, Sky knew, would be the latter kind.

“How? What’s the prank?”

The young sailor’s face screwed up in thought. It remained that way for so long that Sky began to think the boy had been ensnared by another bad memory but before he could worry too much, the boy perked up. “I got it! Okay, so here’s the plan…”

In the end, Sky didn’t have to do much. He was the distraction. Simple enough. Wind was the one that had to be stealthy.

“Hey, Wild,” Sky greeted the champion, jogging over. “What are you doing?”

“Making lunch.”

“Need any help?”

“Uh, sure.” Wild finished adjusting the pot over the recently kindled fire before producing an armful of vegetables from his slate. He offered them to Sky. “Do you mind cutting these?”

“Not at all!” Sky chirped with a smile that wasn’t the least bit forced. He may be distracting Wild for Wind at the moment, but that didn’t mean he was against helping his fellow hero either. Wild worked far too hard to feed them all sometimes. Just because he was the most experienced chef of them all, didn’t mean he had to shoulder the burden alone. Or all the time, for that matter.

Sky accepted the vegetables and quickly set to chopping them per Wild’s instructions.

“So…what are we making?” Sky asked, partly out of curiosity and partly to fill the silence so Wind could sneak over unheard.

“Vegetable risotto,” Wild answered, pulling a few more ingredients out of his slate. “I was originally going to try my hand at that soup recipe Wind’s grandma gave me, but Time said it’s not a good idea. Not with Wind…you know. Speaking of, where is he? I thought he was with you.”

“Ah, he was!” Sky stopped chopping and turned to ensure Wild’s full attention was on focused on him. Wind had just begun to creep over. “He’s just…I sent him ahead to fish with Time and Twi.”

“Is he okay?”

At Wild’s worried expression, Sky couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder at the boy in question. A mischievous spark shone in his eyes. It warmed Sky’s heart to see. “Yes.”

“I feel bad,” Wild admitted, and Wind froze. Was he second guessing his target?

“You couldn’t have known,” Sky reassured him.

“I guess not…”

“Hey, don’t worry. He’s not mad at you.” Sky offered Wild an encouraging smile. “And even if he was, I think you could get him to forgive you with enough sweets.”

Wild laughed at that, and Wind became animated once more, snagging Wild’s waterskin from his belt. “I hope so!”

“Food in general would be enough, actually,” Sky said, eyes trailing the young Waker of Winds as he made his escape. “Wind likes to eat.”

“Like me,” Wild grinned, and Sky returned it.

“Like you,” he agreed.

Wild raised his hands and began to sign, catching Sky off guard. The champion only reverted to sign now when he was overwhelmed. As Sky scrambled to decode the shapes Wild’s hands were making, he discovered that this wasn’t the case. _“Why did Wind take my waterskin?”_

_“You noticed?!”_ Sky panicked, reverting to messy sign. He’d failed his mission!

_“You made it pretty obvious,”_ Wild returned, holding back a laugh.

The Chosen Hero hung his head in shame but quickly lifted it when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Wild smiled. _“So what is he up to?”_

_“It’s a prank. Sorry. My idea. Not to prank you in particular! Just… to prank someone? I thought it would make Wind feel better because I know he likes to do things like that, and he said no to all my other ideas.”_ Sky’s fingers were tangling together by the end of his spiel, but thankfully, Wild seemed to get the gist of what he was saying.

_“Okay.”_

_“Okay?”_ Sky mirrored sloppily, confused.

_“If it will make Wind feel better, I’ll play dumb.”_

Sky breathed a sigh of relief. _“Thank you.”_

_“Better go back to chopping. I need those carrots, and if Wind catches us signing he’ll know something’s up.”_

Sky nodded in agreement and the two of them busied themselves with cooking, exchanging a few words now and then to keep up the front that Sky was still distracting.

When Wind stealthily slipped the champion’s waterskin back on his belt, he shot Sky a thumbs up to communicate his success. Sky shot him a not-so-discrete one back, and Wind beamed before bounding off to Hylia only knew where.

With two of them working on the meal, lunch was ready in no time, and soon everyone was gathered around Wild’s makeshift cooking space, enjoying the food and chatting amicably amongst themselves.

The general peace shattered when Wild took a swig from his waterskin...and promptly did a spit-take. Saltwater. The Hero of Winds had replaced his regular water with seawater.

Legend, who was unlucky enough to be seated across from Wild, reeled back from the spray, holding his plate above his head as if to protect it. Not that it mattered now. “What the—?!”

Loud laughter drowned out Legend’s vulgar exclamation and everyone’s eyes were drawn to the sprawled form of Wind, shaking with giggles.

“This is payback for earlier, isn’t it?!” Wild cried, only half serious as he tried to spit out the taste of the saltwater. It didn’t work. He’d accidentally swallowed some.

“No!” Wind exclaimed between giggles.

“Wind!” Wild gasped. “Fish pee in the ocean! You made me drink fish pee!”

The young sailor found this news to be hilarious and devolved into a brand new fit of giggles, holding his stomach.

This position made it impossible for Wind to notice Wild approaching until it was too late. Scooping up Wind in his arms was all too easy. Holding onto a wriggling fourteen-year-old was a bit harder, however, and before long Wild found himself chasing Wind around their dining site, kicking up clouds of fine sand.

“Take your fight elsewhere!” Legend scolded them, shielding his food as the duo whizzed past him. “Some people are trying to eat.”

“Let them have it,” ‘Rule said, patting Legend’s shoulder to calm him. “They’re not hurting anything.”

“They’re getting sand in my food!” Legend griped.

“It’s not so bad,” ‘Rule muttered, unfazed by the few grains that made it onto his plate.

Hyrule turned out to be the only one that liked sandy food so, after some gentle urging from Sky and somewhat more stern ordering from Time, Wild chased Wind further down the beach, where they couldn’t ruin anyone else’s lunch.

Wind was fast, but Wild knew the lay of the land. All it took was a small detour to cut the boy off.

“Gotcha!” Wild lunged forward, intent on grabbing Wind. The boy rolled out of the way.

“No, you don’t!”

And so the chase continued throughout the village and beyond to Cape Cresia where Wild drove Wind into a corner. The boy attempted to run but Wild knew there was nowhere to run except Soka Point, which was exactly where Wind went. He didn’t dare try to charge past Wild, after all.

Wind surrendered to his fate with a scream of false terror as Wild plucked him off his feet and unceremoniously dumped him into the surf. “Eat fish pee!”

“You eat it!” Wind countered, grabbing Wild’s arm and tugging him down into the water with him.

“I already have! It’s your turn!” Wild swiped his hand through the water, throwing sea spray towards his friend.

Wind laughed, returning the favor.

If there was any doubt left in Wild’s mind that Wind held a grudge against him for earlier, it was erased by the joy on Wind’s face. He’d been forgiven.

Their water war raged on until Four came to check up on them. The shortest hero was very adamant about not getting wet, which Wild and Wind interpreted as an invitation to give chase. A game of tag commenced, then, two heroes chasing another with threats of a wet embrace should they catch him.

And catch him they did. Blue’s grumbling quickly subsided as Red gained control and suggested they share the love with the other Links. Neither Wind nor Wild needed any convincing, and after ensuring the three of them were thoroughly soaked with seawater, they advanced towards their unsuspecting prey.

Fortunately, most of the Links had finished eating by then so the game was received well. At least, it was until the youngest ones started to shiver from the cold. Lurelin, though primarily tropical, was not impervious to the changing of seasons, and thus the sun did not warm the land now as much as it did during the summer months.

A chill was in the air and it turned out to be quite noticeable when one was soaked to the bone.

The novelty of tackle tag was swiftly ruined with a change of clothes, and Wind took to helping Red finish up the flower crowns from earlier. He surprised everyone when he placed the largest crown on his head.

No one wanted to push the birthday thing and risk having Wind spiral into another flashback so they pretended not to see. Ignoring it when everyone else found a circle of blossoms atop their heads was more difficult, however.

“Does this mean you’re okay with celebrating your birthday?” Hyrule asked uncertainly, touching the flower crown Wind had just placed on his head.

Wind shrugged. “I guess.” The frown on his face told a different story.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Twilight reminded him gently.

“I want to.” The words were little more than a whisper.

“Hey.” Time strode over to place a hand on Wind’s shoulder. “Don’t force yourself. If you aren’t feeling up to it, then it’s not a big deal.”

“But it is!” Wind protested, meeting Time’s eye with conviction. “All of you put so much work into today, and I’m ruining it.”

The mistiness in Wind’s eyes wasn’t ideal, Time agreed. However, he did not think Wind was the problem. “You’re not ruining anything.”

“How can you say that when you had to go through all the trouble of planning a surprise party and setting it up and everything, and then taking it down because I said no and…and fishing! You and Twi were fishing all day. I don’t know how that factors into everything but I’m sure it had something to with it because no one fishes for that long!”

If tears hadn’t been streaming down the boy’s face, Time would have laughed. Out of everything that happened today, Wind tore himself apart over the fact that Time and Twi went on a fishing trip!

“Wind.” Time gripped the boy’s shoulders tightly, hoping to bring him out of his head. It seemed to have worked because Wind met his eye. “Twi and I were fishing all day because we _wanted_ to.” And also because Wild planned to make a seafood dinner for Wind but something told Time admitting such a thing now would be a mistake. He had the young hero’s attention now, and he wanted to keep it.

Wind sniffed. “Really?”

“Yes. And we planned the party because we wanted you to have a nice day. It backfired, but that’s not on you.” And because he didn’t think Wind understood, he repeated it once more. “That’s _not_ on you. It’s on us, on _me_ , because as much as we planned, we never thought to ask what you wanted.”

Out of everyone here, Time knew better than that. He’d been subjected to a multitude of assumptions about his needs and wants as he “grew up”. He knew how invalidating they felt. How much they _hurt_. And he’d subjected the youngest hero in his company to it. “For that, I am truly sorry. If ignoring your birthday is what you want to do, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“But I feel bad doing that,” Wind mumbled, dropping his head and scoffing a foot across the sand.

“Why?”

“Because then it’s all a waste.”

Time opened his mouth to object but Wind plowed on.

“Everyone already picked the flowers and made the crowns so we have to use them. But we can’t if I don’t want to celebrate so…so we have to because otherwise the flowers will just wilt and die, and it’ll all be for nothing.”

“The flower crowns are going to wither away whether or not we celebrate,” Legend said when Time failed to reply.

“I know but at least there would be a _purpose_ to it,” Wind returned, spinning around to address Legend. “At least then they won’t get wasted.”

Legend cocked an eyebrow. “They’re flower crowns. They really don’t matter that much.”

The tortured expression on Wind’s face begged to differ.

“If I may—” Vio interjected, stepping forward, “—I think I have a solution. Wind, you don’t want to celebrate today because it brings back bad memories, correct?” At Wind’s guarded nod, Vio continued. “So what if we celebrate tomorrow? That way, the flower crowns won’t wither away needlessly and the work everyone has put into your birthday won’t go to waste either.”

“Great idea!” Warrior commended Vio, jumping on the bandwagon without a second thought. “We can celebrate at midnight—because technically it won’t be today anymore—and make a whole night of it.”

“Not objecting completely,” Sky said, raising his hand. “But wouldn’t us partying all night disturb the villagers?”

Warrior frowned at that moral conundrum for all of two seconds before Wild spoke up. “Not if we take it to Gogobi Shores. Or even better, Palmorae Beach. We could have a huge bonfire and be as loud as we want!”

The prospect launched most of the heroes into eager conversation, but Time ignored them and turned to Wind. His opinion on the matter was the only one that mattered. “What do you think?”

Wind took a moment to weigh the idea in his head before meeting Time’s gaze with a half-smile. “I think it’s a good idea.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yeah.”

Time reached over and plucked the elaborate arrangement of flowers and foliage from Wind’s head. “In that case, we’ll retire these until later.”

The relieved smile on the sailor’s face caused Time’s heart to clench but he forced himself to remain indifferent. For Wind’s sake, of course. Pity had been the last thing he’d wanted when he was Wind’s age, and he didn’t need to ask to know it was the last thing Wind wanted too.

Instead of lingering and potentially allowing his mask to crack, Time removed the crown from his own head and set off to ensure the others did the same. Wind had been upset enough today. The last thing they needed was to stoke the fire.

* * *

Yellow and orange flames licked the night sky, throwing long shadows across Palmorae Beach and tossing apprehension into the stomachs of all those nearby.

Ever since Time had relieved Wind of his birthday crown, the sailor had been restless. Tense. Unfocused. Present and yet, not quite. With the threat of celebrating his birthday lifted for the time being, everyone thought Wind would be happier, including the sailor himself.

Unfortunately, he’d only sunk deeper into the depths of memory. It was as if Time had granted him permission to be unhappy when he took away the flower crown and all the obligations that came with it. Feigning happiness suddenly grew more difficult, each attempt akin to slogging through muddy quicksand. It was much easier to fall into the feelings of unease and let them consume him than to fight against them, so that was exactly what Wind did.

The others weren’t content to let their little brother suffer, however, and in classic stubborn Link fashion, did all they could to cheer Wind up.

Unfortunately, no amount of candy, card games, horse-riding lessons, or Wolfie acting dog-like could get Wind to crack so much as a smile.

The Hero of Winds wound up dozing under a palm tree with Sky, jerking awake from nightmare after nightmare and hiding his face in Sky’s sailcloth so the others wouldn’t see his tears and peg him as a baby.

Needless to say, the last few hours had been tough on Wind and now that they were gathered around a roaring bonfire, each second ticking closer and closer to midnight, more than a few of them were having second thoughts.

“Are you sure you’re up to doing this?” Twilight quietly asked Wind, who was currently tucked into his side, staring listlessly at the leaping flames. “You don’t have to. We could all go to bed.”

Wind shook his head. “I want to.” It wasn’t a complete lie. He wanted it more than he wanted to return to sleep. Nothing good had awaited him there.

“Good because I’d hate to eat this cake all by myself.” Wild grinned as he produced a cake from his slate.

Wind couldn’t keep his eyes off the treat. He hadn’t had a birthday cake for years, and this one looked especially delicious, topped with fluffy white cream and fresh fruit.

Legend scoffed, chucking a stick into the bonfire. It made a satisfying pop. “You were never in danger of eating all that by yourself.”

“Definitely not!” ‘Rule agreed, eyes shining as he took a playful swipe at the cake in Wild’s hands. The champion raised it higher despite Hyrule not even coming close to touching it.

Taking this as a challenge, the Hero of Hyrule stood, and without any further prompting, began to chase Wild around the bonfire. The duo danced messily around the beach, Wild balancing the cake precariously over his head and taunting ‘Rule every time he failed to swipe a bit of frosting.

“Please sit down. Or set the cake down. You’re going to drop it,” Sky begged, cringing at every move the two made.

“Yeah, hold your horses. It’s not even time yet,” Twilight added.

“It’s almost time,” Wild argued, sliding to an abrupt stop and handing off the cake to Sky, who breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at his slate. “It’ll be midnight in a minute.”

“Forty-five seconds,” Time corrected him automatically. His internal clock was impeccable, so the other heroes had learned rely on him for all time-sensitive matters.

For this reason, the Hero of Time was responsible for placing the most elaborate flower crown on Wind’s head when midnight struck. “Happy not birthday, Wind.”

“Happy not birthday!” everyone else echoed enthusiastically, donning their own party crowns. It was so absurd Wind couldn’t help but giggle.

Wild cut the cake, taking extra care to give Wind the biggest piece, for which Wind was grateful. He’d skipped dinner and barely eaten any lunch, so he was starving.

Equipped with a generous amount of sugar in his system, Wind began to feel better. In fact, he would have been content to eat sweets all night, but Warrior had other plans.

“Present time!”

The proclamation caught Wind off guard. He didn’t anticipate gifts, which was rather silly of him in hindsight since the party was supposed to be for his birthday but still. “What? You didn’t have to—”

Warrior swiftly cut Wind’s protest off. “We did. Now, close your eyes.”

“But-”

“Close them!”

Wind sighed but did as Warrior asked. “No peeking.”

He didn’t peek, but he did fidget at all the rustling and crinkling sounds that met his ears.

Legend’s laugh almost startled him into opening his eyes. “War, it’s wrapped. Why are you making him close his eyes?”

“Shh! It’s for dramatic effect.”

“You’re a moron.”

Wind giggled but played along, waiting until Warrior told him to open his eyes.

Once he did, he found a square of brown paper tied with string in his lap. It flopped in his hands once he picked it up. Conscious of the eyes on him, Wind ripped away the packaging and unraveled the fabric in his hands. He gasped upon realizing what it was.

“Now you don’t have to steal mine all the time,” Warrior said.

“I’m still going to steal yours,” Wind promised, only half-kidding as he wound the orange scarf around his neck. The fabric was unbelievably soft.

“You little brat.” Wind grinned, knowing Warrior didn’t mean what he said and shot to his feet, nearly barreling the older hero over with a crushing hug.

“Thank you! I love it, and I’ll _try_ to steal yours less…maybe.”

Warrior patted his back and chuckled. “That’s all I can ask for. Thank Four too; they helped me with it.”

“Thank you, guys!” Wind exclaimed, releasing the captain and enveloping the Hero of the Four Sword in an embrace. Red hugged him back before pulling away, bouncing excitedly on his toes.

“Look, look! We embroidered a seagull and a telescope and a fish on the ends.” Red gently took the ends of the scarf into his hands to show him, and Wind ran his fingers over the raised blue and white stitching, marveling at the detail.

“This is amazing.”

“And that’s only one present!” Red chirped proudly.

“That’s right. Head’s up, kiddo!” Wind turned just in time to catch the object Legend had tossed to him. It was a wooden box.

Inside laid multiple colorful sticks. Noticing Wind’s puzzled expression, Legend explained. “They’re pastels. I noticed you liked to draw so…” Legend waved his hand noncommittally. “That should be more interesting than just drawing with pencils and ink. I’ll teach you how to use them.”

“You know how to make art?” Warrior asked, his tone implying that Legend possessing such a skill was ludicrous.

“Of course I do, pretty boy!”

While the two of them were squabbling and Wind was admiring the pastels with a new appreciation, Hyrule took the opportunity to give the sailor his present.

“Here. It goes with Legend’s gift.”

Wind beamed as he accepted the notebook from Hyrule. He flipped through the blank pages, already planning multiple colorful drawings he could make for Aryll.

He had barely thrown his arms around Hyrule in thanks before Sky approached, presenting a seagull statue he’d carved and painted. It looked so real that the sailor almost expected it to let out a squawk.

“This is beautiful, Sky!” Wind turned the little bird over and over in his hands, admiring the craftsmanship in the firelight.

“Thanks. I never carved a seagull before. I hope it’s right,” Sky rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“It’s perfect,” Wind assured him with a smile.

“One more,” Time said, snapping Wind’s attention to where Time and Twilight stood with a fishing rod. Wind pocketed the figurine and bounced over, tail end of his new scarf flapping in the breeze.

“May you catch many fish,” Time declared with a smile as he passed the rod to Wind. The sailor laughed at the irony. The Great Sea was a fishless ocean so the gift would be rendered useless as soon as he returned home. Nonetheless, Wind accepted it with happy tears burning the backs of his eyes.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that each of his brothers had carved their names into the wood. A few tears escaped, plopping onto the present.

“Are you okay? Is it too much? Do you want to stop?” Twilight worried, hovering his hands over Wind’s shoulders uncertainly.

“No, no! I love it. I love all of it,” Wind dashed a hand across his eyes and grinned up at Twilight. “I’m okay. I’m just happy and…and why’d you guys do all this?”

“Because we love you, you ding dong.” Legend rolled his eyes, causing them all to laugh.

“I love you all too!” The Hero of Winds set to proving it by hugging each and every one of his fellow heroes.

“Alright, now that the cake and presents are out of the way, we can party,” Warrior said once Wind had thoroughly conveyed his affection for everyone. “Hit it, Legend!”

“I’ll hit you,” Legend returned but he had a smile on his face as he began to pull out instruments from his bag.

“Are you going to play something for us?” Wind wondered, eagerly watching as Legend organized his musical instruments. There were so many, and Wind didn’t know what half of them were.

“Yup. I’m the musical entertainment. Apparently. And before you ask, no.” Legend glanced up at him. “I don’t take requests.”

“Boo!” Wild called, hands cupped over his mouth.

“Lame!” Hyrule added.

“Keep it up and I won’t play,” Legend said but of course he didn’t mean it. He promised himself he’d play for Wind, so he played.

Legend cycled through the most upbeat songs he knew, occasionally changing instruments, and when he began to tire, Time stepped up with his own ocarina amidst encouraging hoots and whistles from the others. Even Sky joined in, strumming his harp, and though the music clashed at times and sounded downright awful at others, the nine of them were having too much fun to care.

At one point, Wind pulled Hyrule and Red into a dance, only none of them knew how to dance properly, so the three of them wound up spinning around and around in circles until they grew dizzy and fell, laughing, to the ground.

The party was incredibly loud, downright disorganized at times, and filled with so much sugar Wind could practically feel his teeth rotting, but it was all worth it because none of them could stop smiling.

Hours later as he collapsed with the others, blurry-eyed and glaring at the rising sun, Wind wished all of his birthdays could be as wonderful as this one.


End file.
